


Are we even real?

by Player_1



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Existential Crisis, Gen, Hallucinations, It's Hero's Duty...A game about WAR...Why didn't this happen!?, Mentioned Memory Loss, Mentions of Violence, Other, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, UnionX speculations/spoilers, Wreck-It Ralph elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-09-30 16:07:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20449832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Player_1/pseuds/Player_1
Summary: In the wrong place, at the wrong time, I got the strangest sense of deja vu.It's not like I've seen the place before, of course not...-But...This battle...Didn't I fight in it before?





	Are we even real?

When it comes to exploring a new world, heading straight into battle felt more like a routine. I find myself in a place of new sights and wonders, clear out the Heartless that terrorize the peace, head back to Daybreak Town, rinse and repeat. While there was nothing else to do except make a few visits to Dwarf Woodlands or Agrabah (thankfully not the week-long missions), I was perfectly content with the tasks Master Invi gives me back home.

But just like that, almost like a fever dream, these "glitches" appeared out of nowhere. Even if Ephemer was by my side, this new world seemed more...compact. It feels like a simplified Daybreak Town, worlds connected by doorways and a lobby, and it feels so much easier than just using a Corridor to get to and fro.   
But if these worlds are so close together, aren't they supposed to be careful about the Order? 

"We are humanity's last hope." The woman in green, presumably an officer, relayed through the cramped metal bunker; "Our mission: destroy all Cy-Bugs." They must be mistaking the Heartless as these Bugs...As long as I'm here, I can help them, I know it...

With a thunderous boom, soldiers poured out of the shelter, the air filled with smoke and a strange, pulsating wave of Darkness; so much so that the sky was permeated in this despair. 

_They have nowhere to go...All they do is fight...I-_   
All I could do was stare, watching the sky erupt in emerald flames and masses of metal Bugs flitting around like a flock of birds. This is a lot different than Niceland, that's for sure...

The thrum of wings brought me back to reality, these bulbous creatures of metal and mechanical eyes towering over me, their ravenous chittering hiding my pounding anticipation.  
Well, they _are _different...It's nothing I can handle though.

_We were training to fight Heartless, not-_

~ 

  
It was a long battle, but there are too many Bugs to count...How are they so strong?   
Besides my lack of better judgment, my legs gave out from under me, my heart thundering and crashing in my ears.  
It feels like a Heartless is at my throat...What's going on? 

_Everything was dying around me...The earth, the air, people-_

The dull pain in my brain grew hotter and aching, my hands ghosting my temples no matter how hard I pressed them together. I knew I was defenseless, but I didn't care...The world just seemed to stop around me...  
_The clashing of Keyblades was all that I could hear...It's every wielder for themselves. _

_I have to fight...I have to survive..._

The rain began to soak my skin, as if the heavens were crying for mercy...There's no more to spare, not anymore...So with my Keyblade in hand, I- 

_The smell of mud and blood permeated my nose, staining my fingernails as I held onto my blade for dear life. Aced was renowned for his strength, but he must have been weakened by the crowd...Like moths to a flame, the familiar serpent that guided me stood in my way, the indecipherable gaze in her mask laden with sorrow._   
_'I'm sorry for dragging you into this...' She muttered, almost drowned out by the screaming; 'At least I'll send you off peacefully.'_

My spells crackled in the damaged atmosphere, scorching the flesh and cutting everything down like tissue paper. 

_I can't stop now, not yet. Please forgive me Master...Please, please, please, please, please, ple-_

'Do our game properly, or don't do it at all.' 

My heart was practically snatched out of my chest, blurring my vision in whites and reds, _drifting hearts and torn flesh,_ bringing me back to this cruel reality.

That's right...This world is a game...  
None of this matters...Should I even care about this?

_I want to survive, I _**need** _to survive...But what's Ava doing here?_  
_ She's supposed to be with the Dandelions, right?_

_We need to live, endure this hellish nightmare...My arms could barely lift the Key, but with my battered body, sparks began to fly._

This isn't right...  
Ephemer, Skuld, Ven, Blaine, Lauriam...Five Leaders..._  
_I didn't join the Dandelions, I'm right here, fighting the founder...They all fell, just like everyone else, right?

_Where did you go? I don't want to be alone..._

_They all left me...I'm so stupid, I should have saved myself.   
The blood's on my hands now..._

I need answers...I have to know...

'-even without the Book, the Worlds can still be accessed virtually.' 

A gaming world and a virtual world...Then what's the real world...?

_Everything hurts...My muscles screaming for rest, the filth dying my soul barely getting washed away by the persistent storm, my lungs filled with pain and bile..._  
The World was falling apart, and I could only stand there, watch and breathe.  
  
I'm alive...I'm real...This is reality...  
This is **my** reality...

I screamed, but nothing came out.

_I feel pain._  
_ I feel heartbreak._  
_ Happiness._  
_ Misery._  
_ Loneliness._  
_ Anger._  
_ Excitement._

_I'm right here._

_I know how to feel._

_I'm alive, I'm breathing, I'm here..._

The world turned red, crashing into my heart with an inevitable rage. My Key cut through the air, dying its teeth crimson with a sickly satisfying laugh.

_Alive._  
_ Breathing._  
_ Here._  
_ Alive._  
_ Breathing._  
_ Here._  
_ Alive._  
_ Breathing._  
_ Here._  
_ Alive._  
_ Alive._  
_ Alive._  
_ Alive._  
_ Ali-_

_'Here’s a question for you: Is the world we're in real or virtual?' _

I'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREALI'MREAL I- 

"-Master, get a hold of yourself!" 

_As the light of Kingdom Hearts fades, so does the World..._

The rain drizzled down and stopped, rinsing out the static buzzing in my mind, bit by bit...I tasted copper in my mouth, my cheek torn and growing numb from the inside out. The vice on my Keyblade loosened, sinking in my hand as everything continued to ache, breaths slow and steady as the metallic sheen of the game became a reality.  


_A familiar hand held onto mine, never letting go, and I saw daybreak all over again..._  
  
"Thanks, Chirithy..." Even as the Spirit's expression remained stoic, I turned mine to the looming tower before us.  
I need answers...I need to know for myself...

* * *

"Hey, you guys made it!" I called from across the room, the duo sidestepping the multitude of eggs cluttering the area; "Really, this place is crazy, right? I don't blame you for getting caught up on these 'Cy-Bugs', if that's what they're even called...But-"

"Are we even real?" Despite the swarm of monsters waiting outside these walls, the look in his eyes was more emotionally taxed than physical.

My heart dropped at that second.  
"Wha-...What are you talking about?" I tried so hard to work around the anxiety pounding in my chest; "Of course we're real, what else would we be?"  
"A fake, a hoax, a fabrication? Is that what you're going to say?" Very soon, the tears freely flowed; "Blaine said so, right? There are two Daybreak Towns, and he said we were in the real world...But why doesn't this _feel_ real?"

_Of course_ he mentions Blaine...He told him the War happened straight to his face...  
Is he starting to remember? 

"I mean...This is nothing, I'm sure it's the new scenery tha-"   
"-We're inside a _game _Em, this isn't normal at all!" His voice trembled with a terrible force, "How are we in the real world if we're connected to this one!? We're just playthings, people are watching us right now like we're nothing! We might even be controlled by them right now, so how are you so calm about this!?"

_Believe me, I'm terrified...__But not about this..._

  
"Look-...We can head back if you want to, we can tell the others about-"   
"-Why not the Masters? Did they disappear like everyone else!?" I chewed the inside of my cheek, "Just tell me Ephemer...Are we trapped in here? Can we even get out of here?"

  
_Of course we can...I just don't know how..._  
  
But now that I think about it, I haven't seen the other Worlds besides the Graveyard...If we're supposed to revive the Worlds, we should be out _there_, right?  
I mean...The Dandelions just had to forget the War and rehabilitate themselves, that's all I read in the rule book...

My train of thought halted once more as my friend collapsed to the floor, his sobs shaking through his entire form.  
"Please, please-...Just tell me I'm real...I'm alive, I'm not a tool, I'm a living person...I'm real, I'm right here, I'm alive..." The tears didn't stop, even if his Chirithy and I held him close; "I'm not fake, I'm real...I'm alive, right? Please, just tell me...Please, tell me, please..."

* * *

While the arcade was crowded with games, noise, and kids wanting to have a good time, this was not the kind of "fun" I was expecting.   
Here I was, trying to play through Hero's Duty, hoping to shoot some Cy-Bug faces in, when a gut-wrenching scream ripped through the chromatic landscape. It wasn't something the characters were doing, of course not, but as swarm after swarm of Cy-Bug were being ripped apart by this unknown force, I knew something was up.

Is this some kind of random event, a new feature maybe?

I tried to reach the Beacon, my chest growing heavy with guilt as one voice was barely drowned out by the booming background music.

'I'm real, I'm real, I'm real, I'm real, I'm real, I'm real, I'm real...'

Over and over again like a mantra, smashing metal and explosions roaring, I faltered on the trigger for a second and GAME OVER was blaring on the screen, clear as day. 

I hated to say this, but I felt _bad _for that character, whoever they were...And even if I'm on the cusp of puberty, it made me think about my life up until now.  
It's easy to take everything for granted, and you'll know you missed something when it's gone for good.   
Your home, your family, your friends, everything...You just have to see the best in what you have and live with it... 

So for now, with determination set on my mind, I put down the controller, diving into the noise to find my friends and coax them out with the promise of pizza.   
I got a life to live, and it would be great to do it when I'm still here. 

**Author's Note:**

> Boy, that kid's gonna need some therapy when he grows up...  
Since the Cy-Bug Sector didn't exploit the biggest plothole (regarding the Player forgetting the War and "joining" the Dandelions) in the game so far, at least I'm here to fix it, right?


End file.
